Patient-supporting apparatus for a piece of medical equipment
The invention relates to a patient-supporting apparatus for a piece of medical equipment, in particular for an MRI tomograph, having a panel for supporting a patient or for bearing a separate supporting panel, and having a guide element on which the panel is arranged in a displaceable manner, it being possible for the panel to be introduced preferably into an accommodating region of the piece of medical equipment.
Such a patient-supporting apparatus is used, for example, in the case of an MRI tomograph or in the case of a computer tomograph, which for this purpose are set up in an examination room. The respective piece of medical examination equipment has an accommodating region in which the patient, or part of the patient, is scanned for imaging purposes. A panel, on which the patient can lie down, is provided in the accommodating region. In order to scan a relatively large area of the patient, it is possible for the patient, lying down on the panel, to be guided through the accommodating region.
The patient is usually brought into the examination room lying on a trolley with a supporting panel. According to a first variant, the piece of medical equipment does not have a fixed patient-supporting apparatus. Rather, the trolley serves as a patient-supporting apparatus and the supporting panel of the trolley serves as the abovementioned panel. The trolley has a guide element by means of which the panel or supporting panel, together with the patient, can be guided into the accommodating region and/or through the same. According to a second variant, the piece of medical equipment has a fixed patient-supporting apparatus which can be fixedly connected to a housing of the piece of equipment. The patient, in the examination room, is then laid on the panel of the patient-supporting apparatus either directly or lying on the supporting panel of the trolley. The patient is thus either transferred or laid on the panel of the patient-supporting apparatus together with the supporting panel removed from the trolley. The panel is mounted on a table framework of the fixed patient-supporting apparatus, for example, such that it can be displaced by means of a guide element. This makes it possible, with the patient lying down, for that area of the patient which is to be scanned to be moved into the accommodating region of the piece of medical equipment and moved out again following the examination.
In the case of the known patient-supporting apparatuses, the work which is necessary for positioning the patient in the accommodating region is frequently obstructed. In particular, the abovementioned work required for transferring the patient or for transporting the supporting panel is usually very laborious for the hospital staff.
The object of the invention is to specify a patient-supporting apparatus with the aid of which a patient can be conveyed to the piece of medical equipment in a more ergonomic manner and with less physical exertion being required.
This object is achieved according to the invention in that a handle provided for displacing the panel is of pivotable configuration, it being possible for the handle to be pivoted from a first position, which is on the patient side and in which the handle projects upward beyond the panel, into a second position, in which the handle is directed away from the patient and is located beneath the panel.
The patient-supporting apparatus according to the invention either is a fixed patient-supporting apparatus of the type described in the introduction or is configured as a trolleyxe2x80x94as has likewise been described in the introduction.
The handle can easily introduce a force which is necessary for displacing the panel, it being possible, by virtue of the pivotability of the handle, for the latter to be pivoted away if it is disruptive, for example, during transfer of the patient. According to a preferred embodiment, the handle can be pivoted through a pivoting angle of at least 150 xc2x0.
In the case of the patient being displaced while lying down, the first position is, in particular, a position in which the handle projects upward beyond the panel and in this case is located, to the greatest extent, vertically. In the second position, it is possible for the handle to be pivoted, for example, beneath the panel and in this case likewise to be oriented vertically downward.
The handle can preferably be pivoted about an axis parallel to the panel.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, integrated in the handle is an actuating element which can bring about an operation for braking, in particular securing, the panel in relation to the guide element. This easily makes it possible for the staff to release the panel from the arrested state and to brake the panel, displaced by a pushing action, with the patient, if the patient is positioned correctly in the accommodating region, quickly and without any significant physical exertion being required.
According to another preferred embodiment, a braking device is fitted on the panel, the actuating element being configured such that the braking device can be actuated thereby if the handle is located in the first position. In the second position, it is possible for the actuating element to be pivoted together with the handle such that action on the braking device is not possible.
For this purpose, the braking device is preferably configured such that it achieves a braking action if it is not subjected to any action. Provided for this purpose, for example, is a spring element which presses a braking jaw against the guide element or the table framework. If the handle is in the first position, it is then possible, by virtue of the actuating element being actuated, to act on the braking device and thus to release or to reduce the braking force.
The actuating element is preferably designed as a lever which can be pivoted with the handle and, in the first position thereof, engages in a contact element of the braking device in the panel.
The handle is preferably designed as a grip which can be grasped by the human hand and, in particular, is adapted to the shape of the human hand.